Kamen Rider: Reiwa The First Generation discussion

I enjoyed this movie, it was an excellent way to establish Zero One as the first of a new generation rather than adopting the spirit of Heisei Riders which is something that reminded me of the Hibiki arc of Zi-O. A moral about making your own way in life and moving on from the past.

How did Aruto summon his bike when Zea stored it underground? I guess this is also before he was scolded by the space bros for summoning it just to get to work on time. If it didn't have to be reloaded in to Zea each time, I would commend Aruto for making the best use of his arsenal, unlike Sougo who uses a damn bicycle even though he literally has a motorcycle in his pocket.

Definitely got a Terminator feeling from the dystopian alternate reality which I guess is a pretty typical result of combining the themes of time travel and AI from the 2 main Riders. It was interesting to see how things happened differently due to Type-1 failing to prevent Ark's launch. I like how some of the guest characters in the show made their first appearances here as part of the human resistance and the parallels between them and the anti-Oma resistance.

The ending caught me off guard with Sougo attempting to forcefully erase Aruto's memory of the AR. It reminded me of Kamen Rider War (a movie I thought was mediocre) except that was a duel between the first of the first and the current of the current. This is more like if it was between J and Kuuga, the last of the old and the first of the new. It's left open ended making it ambiguous whether or not Aruto remembers but his credits scene with Izu implies he does when he thinks fondly of his father. Of course, it's still a matter of perception.

And yeah, screw Gai! It's his meddling that made that dystopia possible.

Overall, a great crossover movie that is worth a rewatch. Still not as awesome as Movie War Ultimatum, however. It's a shame that recent Movie Wars don't have cool extra final forms anymore.